Drone schools in full flight

With a number of WA’s biggest businesses relying on unmanned drones to reduce surveying and inspection costs, new schools are teaching drone pilots how to fly. The sharp uptake of remotely controlled drone technology is creating a niche industry in Western Australia, with new local businesses training pilots for a growing number of commercial licences.

Drone schools in full flight – Global Drone Solutions

Global Drone Solutions is the brainchild of Mahmood Hussein, a former turnaround specialist, who has set up his business and training school in Applecross.

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Mr Hussein said the biggest uptake of drone technology was in the agriculture, construction, and mining sectors, including offshore oil and gas, where shutdowns to inspect safety flares could be expensive and required significant inputs of time and labour.

There were many other, less industrial, uses for drones, Mr Hussein said, such as for wedding photography. “The applications are only limited by our imagination; every day you’re seeing new applications introduced,” Mr Hussein said.

IT’S the pilot school where you keep your feet on the ground, but get to finesse your flying skills, just like Goose or Maverick of Top Gun.

Perth is home to two schools for top drone pilots, with the students’ aviator sunglasses trained on six figure salaries.

With the best operators earning up to $150,000 a year and demand for drone imagery soaring, the profession is taking off.

IT’S the pilot school where you keep your feet on the ground, but get to finesse your flying skills, just like Goose or Maverick of Top Gun.

Perth is home to two schools for top drone pilots, with the students’ aviator sunglasses trained on six figure salaries.

With the best operators earning up to $150,000 a year and demand for drone imagery soaring, the profession is taking off.

Global Drone Solutions chief executive Mahmood Hussein, who runs a pilot school in Applecross, said demand for drone services had “skyrocketed” in the mining, real estate, photography, transport and delivery industries.

Newly trained drone pilots are putting their skills in the air for a satisfying new career.

Sunday Times reporter, Vetti Kakulas spoke to recent Global Drones Solutions graduates and found that they have carved diverse careers from aerial imaging to agriculture using this technology.

Chris Garnaut finished the course a month ago and as started his own aerial photography business, WAabove. Meanwhile another graduate, Stephen Feast is using the technology to treat precise farm areas, increasing production while reducing the use and wastage of chemicals.

Vetti herself took to the skies for the first time and found controlling a drone was much easier than expected.

Every tourist operator seeks to stand out from the crowd and there is no better way of promoting tourism than by using drones. Drones are making the best tourist destinations look even better by capturing unique and creative images from the sky.

Drone expert Mahmood Hussein said “Promoting tourism hot-spots has never been easier or better than by sending up a drone to capture a unique view, an amazing event or just tourists enjoying what is on offer from a different perspective.”

Imagine footage following a camel train walking down Cable Beach, Broome with the sun setting over the Indian Ocean. Or footage tracking a dolphin pod in the estuary; or maybe a birds-eye view of a gorge, stunning wild flowers or a fabulous resort.

Drone laws relaxed

The rules governing the use of drones for commercial purposes have been relaxed – what does this mean for the general public?

But the Australian Federation of Air Pilots has warned the relaxed system is too permissive and will encourage unlicensed drone operators to “fly anywhere”. Even small drones under two kilograms, to which the new regulations apply, can reach heights of up to 4000 feet and interfere with commercial flight paths.